1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and devices for depositing viscous materials onto a printed wiring board. In one aspect, the present invention relates to methods and devices for compressing viscous materials, such as solder paste, through openings in a perforated substrate, such as a patterned screen or stencil.
2. Description of Related Art
Surface Mount Technology (SMT) involves placing circuit components onto circuit paths embedded on the upper surface of a printed wiring board and then soldering the components in place by a process called xe2x80x9creflow solderingxe2x80x9d. Before the circuit component is placed on the printed wiring board, however, it is desirable to apply solder paste to the area on the printed wiring board where the component is to be soldered into place.
Conventional methods do exist to deposit (xe2x80x9cprintxe2x80x9d) solder paste onto desired areas of a printed wiring board by forcing the paste through openings in a substrate (e.g., a stencil) placed in intimate contact with the printed wiring board.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,239 describes such a method and device for dispensing viscous materials. The method includes forcing a viscous material from a housing through an opening and depositing it onto a stencil between a pair of flexible members (parallel squeegee blades) which depend from the housing on either side of the opening and are in contact with the stencil. The ends of the flexible members are not connected and remain open ended. The viscous material, accordingly, is not contained within an enclosed area when it is deposited on the surface of the stencil. Movement of the housing and the flexible members horizontally across the stencil causes the trailing flexible member to force the viscous material through the openings in the stencil. U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,402 describes a similar method and device except that the leading flexible member is raised off of the stencil during movement of the housing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,133,120 and 5,191,709 describe methods for filling through-holes of a printed wiring board via a mask with pressurized conductive filler material by means of a nozzle assembly unit having a nozzle tip member. The nozzle tip member, however, is designed only to dispense the pressurized conductive filler material through the mask to a single through-hole. The nozzle tip member then xe2x80x9cscansxe2x80x9d the printed wiring board for a second through-hole to fill. The nozzle tip member has a blunt end section which rests on the mask and a circular exit, the diameter of which may be increased or decreased by changing the nozzle tip member. The nozzle tip member dispenses the filler material without controlling unwanted flow of xe2x80x9cexcessivexe2x80x9d filler material back through the stencil. Additionally, the nozzle tip member does not define a contained environment where xe2x80x9ccompressionxe2x80x9d of the filler material takes place through the mask followed by the immediate shearing off of the filler material within that contained environment from the surface of the stencil. In fact, the nozzle tip member itself provides no effective means for shearing off filler material from the top of the stencil, rather, after the through hole is filled and filler material xe2x80x9cbacks upxe2x80x9d through the stencil, the nozzle tip member moves forward whereupon the xe2x80x9cexcessivexe2x80x9d filler material is then wiped off by a separate, single, flexible squeegee member which is designed for unidirectional use only.
Unfortunately, these conventional efforts do not provide a contained environment for compression of viscous material through holes in a stencil and shearing of viscous material within the contained environment from the upper surface of the stencil. Reliance upon squeegee movement to force the viscous material, such as solder paste, through the stencil openings can lead to damage and eventual failure of both the squeegee blades and the stencil due to repeated friction. Since conventional efforts do not provide a contained environment in which compression and shearing is accomplished, waste of the viscous material is frequently encountered.
Conventional efforts, therefore, (1) fail to maximize the efficiency of printing solder paste onto a desired area of a printed wiring board and (2) fail to minimize waste of the solder paste during the printing process. A need therefore exists to develop a method for printing solder paste onto a printed wiring board and a device suitable for use therewith which overcomes the previously delineated deficiencies of the conventional efforts.
These conventional methods which utilize a print compression head to deposit viscous material onto a printed wiring board suffer from several other drawbacks. For example, prior compression heads undesirably xe2x80x9cleakxe2x80x9d or emit material even after a print stroke is completed and material is no longer being received, due to the existence of residual or inertial pressure remaining within the compression head.
Moreover, oftentimes printing cannot desirably begin as soon as material begins to flow to the head assembly since the received material must first be pressurized and then operatively flow within the compression head assembly in order to allow substantially uniform and desired printing to occur. This xe2x80x9clag timexe2x80x9d increases production time. Moreover, this xe2x80x9clag timexe2x80x9d typically varies between printing cycles and is difficult to actually measure or determine without first operating the head in order to determine whether the assembly actually produces desirable printed circuits, thereby further increasing production time and causing the creation of defective circuits which undesirably increases production costs.
The present invention is therefore directed at solving these problems related to prior print compression heads. Particularly, the present invention substantially and selectively relieves the residual pressure within the compression head at the end of a print stroke, thereby substantially eliminating the undesired leakage of the contained material, and further allowing for printing to desirably begin relatively faster than is possible or practical with prior compression heads.
The present invention includes a novel apparatus and method for dispensing viscous material through openings in a stencil. Embodiments of the present invention include a process herein referred to as xe2x80x9ccompression printingxe2x80x9d wherein pressure is applied to a viscous material within a contained environment defined by a compression head cap so as to compress it through openings in a stencil.
The apparatus of the present invention includes a reservoir containing viscous material which is operably connected to a pressure source. The reservoir is in fluid communication with a housing which terminates in a substantially uniform opening defined by a compression head cap formed from contiguous walls. During operation of the apparatus, the compression head cap is placed in contact with a stencil having a plurality of openings therein. The compression head cap and the stencil form a contained environment. The pressure source then applies pressure against the viscous material contained in the reservoir forcing it from the reservoir into the housing and to the compression head cap. The contiguous walls of the compression head cap act to contain and to direct flow of the pressurized viscous material to the top surface of the stencil and then through the openings in the stencil.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for compressing a viscous material through openings in a stencil by means of a pressure source. It is a further object of the present invention to increase the efficiency of printing viscous material onto a desired area of a printed wiring board and to minimize waste of the viscous material during the printing process.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a print assembly is provided. The print assembly includes a print head having at least one chamber which selectively receives viscous material and which selectively dispenses the received viscous material. The assembly further includes at least one member which is selectively and movably disposed within the at least one chamber and which selectively removes a certain portion of the received viscous material from the at least one chamber, effective to selectively prevent the removed viscous material from being dispensed by the print head.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method to prevent the undesired dispensation of received material is provided. The method is adapted for use in combination with a print head assembly which selectively receives said viscous material and which selectively dispenses said selectively received viscous material. The method includes the steps of selectively providing a void within the print head assembly, effective to store at least a portion of the received viscous material.
Other objects, features or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.